Anyone who dares to delve into the condition of 20th century American
life is most probably doing it to earn a doctorate. Not so Author
Alexander Eliot, 43, an out-of-place, out-of-sorts, self-styled recluse
who, on the pine-clad slopes of Mount Pentelikon, near Athens, pondered
the question, put down his answer in the dozen meditations of this new
book.

Winds of Legend. Anxiety in Americans, says Eliot, stems from their
"basically sound awareness that pleasure is not joy." Money can buy
pleasure but joy costs more, and can be gained only through...